The Tooth - Online Rescource (4)

This book is written by Avi Slodovnick and illustrated by Manon Gauthier. It was published in 2010 by Kane/Miller Book Publishers.

Lexile Level: AD740L     Ages: 5-8

http://www.storylineonline.net/the-tooth/

Summary: 

      The Tooth is a young girl named Marissa that wakes up with a tooth ache because she ate too much candy. Rather than going to school her mom takes her to the dentist. She experiences the morning hustle in a busy city, careful to hold her mom's hand tightly. Then she sees the most unusual sight, a homeless man. In the waiting room Marissa watches the man from the window. Noticing that most of the people walked straight passed the man. Marissa gets her rotten tooth pulled and gets it back in an orange envelope. She is reminded to put the tooth under her pillow for the tooth fairy. While back on the street Marissa pulls away from her mother and runs up to the homeless man. She gives him her tooth and tells him to put it under his pillow.

Evaluation and Illustrations:

     The tooth is a moving book. The little girls learns about a lot on her trip to the dentist. She meets a homeless man on her way and is so curious about him. After the dentist trip, she decides to give the tooth to the man so that he will get money the next morning. She did not know why this man was sitting on the street with a box, but the beauty in this story is that she did all she could do in her situation. Marissa did not have money all she had was a tooth, most children want to keep their teeth and earn money, but Marissa was different she cared about someone else well being. 

     From the title The Tooth no one would guess that the book is about giving to someone else in need. It would be a great story to read to students because it talks about helping others and that not all homeless people are negative. When walking on the street there are homeless people who are grouchy even in movies they are depicted as grouchy, but this book shows that their are homeless people that are kind and thankful for what is given to them. 

     This book was illustrated by Manon Gauthier. I personally disliked the illustrations. The characters Marissa, her mom, and the people on the street looked dirty. The illustrations looked rushed and not to detailed. Although, I felt they were drawn wrong, they did follow along with the text well. The city is depicted as a gray towering presence while the main characters pop in color against the gray. The homeless man is also shown in color though the other people on the street are the same gray as the city itself. 

Literary Elements:

     The tone of this story is hopeful, generous, and caring. This is shown through Marissa wanting to help the homeless man. The characters are Marissa, her mom, the homeless man, and the dentist. The setting of this story is in the large city streets and the dentist office.

1. Tone: hopeful, generous, caring, thoughtful
2. Characters: Marissa, her mom, the homeless man, and the dentist
3. Setting: the dentist office and the street

In the Classroom:

     I would use this text to introduce helping others and what it means to help others. As a class we will have a discussion about who has ever helped any one and what did they do. After the discussion the students will have to think of one kind thing to do for another peer. They could write a kind letter, offer to throw their garbage away, give them a compliment, or ask to sit by them at lunch.


Slodovnick, A., & Gauthier, M. (2010). The tooth. Tulsa, OK: Kane/Miller Book .